Robin Roberts, popular morning news anchor, is returning to ABC News

Robin Roberts, the popular morning news anchor for ABC’s Good Morning America, is back to work and all smiles, after spending six months in recovery after receiving a life-saving bone marrow transplant from her sister. The President and First Lady both took time to welcome back Robin Roberts in a taped message aired just after 7 a.m. last Wednesday morning.

ABC began the inaugural episode with a tight closeup of Roberts, who said, “I have been waiting 174 days to say this: ‘Good Morning America.’” Roberts had not hosted an episode of GMA since Aug. 30, when she left to begin treatment for MDS, according to The Huffington Post. MDS is a rare bone marrow disease that she contracted as a result of her successful fight against cancer.

The speed of Robin’s recovery is, by no means, certain and her continued recovery is contingent upon how well her newly revamped immune system copes with the outside world. GMA is the no. 1 morning news program in the country, a title it only recently won from NBC, and much of the show’s success has been attributed to Robin Roberts.

In her absence, GMA held onto the top spot, but ABC isn’t taking its good fortune for granted. ABC aired a video that showed all GMA employees getting flu shots and their set, dressing rooms and offices being cleaned thoroughly to lessen the likelihood that Roberts contracts an infection.

Obama said he’s happy Roberts is “back doing what you do best,” according to the Daily News. Mrs. Obama added that she is “looking forward” to a sit down interview with Roberts Friday.

Roberts’s procedure and recovery are followed by an unusually grueling work schedule over the next couple weeks. The popular news anchor taped an interview with the First Lady Friday.

Robert’s doctors also appeared on the program, warning that they will not permit her to work if she is not feeling well. “I don’t care who the interview is with,” one of her doctor’s said. “If you’re not well enough, you’re not going.”